Actress Rose McGowan Stands Up For Renee Zellweger and Her Face

In 2014, Renee Zellweger stepped out looking almost unrecognizable. The internet immediately turned on her, accusing her of dramatic plastic surgery and creating offensive memes about her.

And it didn’t end there. Most recently an article appeared in Variety mocking Renee and her “new face.” And that’s when enough became enough. At least it did for actress Rose McGowan, who took to The Hollywood Reporter to write a guest column addressing the bullying surrounding Renee.

Renee Zellweger, Credit: Instagram

Addressing the article’s author Oliver Gleiberman, she wrote,

Renee Zellweger is a human being, with feelings, with a life, with love and with triumphs and struggles, just like the rest of us. How dare you use her as a punching bag in your mistaken attempt to make a mark at your new job. How dare you bully a woman who has done nothing but try to entertain people like you. Her crime, according to you, is growing older in a way you don’t approve of. Who are you to approve of anything? What you are doing is vile, damaging, stupid and cruel. It also reeks of status quo white-male privilege. So assured are you in your place in the firmament that is Hollywood, you felt it was OK to do this. And your editors atVariety felt this was more than OK to run.

You are an active endorser of what is tantamount to harassment and abuse of actresses and women. I speak as someone who was abused by Hollywood and by people like you in the media, but I’m a different breed, one they didn’t count on. I refuse and reject this bullshit on behalf of those who feel they can’t speak. I am someone who was forced by a studio to go onHoward Stern, where he asked me to show him my labia while my grinning male and female publicists stood to the side and did nothing to protect me. I am someone who has withstood death threats from fan boys, had fat sites devoted to me. I’ve withstood harassment on a level you can’t comprehend, Owen.

She continues to stand up for women who get bullied for their looks everywhere and lets him and everyone else know that it is not ok to write these things about women. She also substitutes Leo DiCaprio’s name in place of Renee’s in Oliver’s article to emphasize the double standard that women face in the public eye.

Lena Finkel is the Editor and Founder of Femestella. Prior to started Femestella, she worked at People, InStyle, and Tiger Beat. She’s currently obsessed with Vanderpump Rules, lipstick, and her kitty Tom.